I walked past Sneaker Laundry in Melbourne and smiled at the beauty of their storefront and what I could see of their interior. As their name suggests, they clean sneakers.

Their window has a glowing sign that reads “clean your damn shoes.” It’s more than an invitation to stop and wonder if your shoes do in fact need cleaning, it’s a statement for what Sneaker Laundry cares about: helping us fall in love with our shoes again.

I imagined the founders saying “clean your damn shoes!” to their friends and family and building a business around it.

Sometimes phrases like this can launch a business. Pain points become ideas and ideas offer solutions...

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